Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church would like to welcome you as Christ gathers His people for a time of Divine Service. Here, our heavenly Father promises to pour out His Holy Spirit upon those who hear His Word and believe His promise of forgiveness and salvation. Here, our Savior Jesus Christ has promised to be with us and to give Himself to us in Holy Communion. We pray that the Lord will bless all who gather here with the comfort and assurance of sins forgiven in Jesus Christ.

Communion

We celebrate Holy Communion every Sunday. We believe that we truly receive Christ's body and blood in, with and under the bread and the wine. This is important to us and comes with the promise of forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith. The Bible tells us that Communion is also a sign of confessional unity, or agreement in the faith. All LCMS Lutherans have already been instructed and confessed the same faith we hold at Shepherd of the Bay and are certainly invited to commune with us. Guests who have not been instructed in our faith, and wish to commune with us, are asked to please speak with the pastor before the service begins. We do this, NOT to exclude nor judge anyone's Christian faith, but to faithfully follow our Lord's will. "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgement on himself, not discerning the Lord's body," (1 Corinthians 11:28-29). For this reason, the Christian Church has since the beginning practiced close communion. We do this out of sincere love and concern for the spiritual welfare of all.

Service

Please use the time before our service begins to silently prepare for your time of worship.

Our organist will begin playing "pre-service music" about 5 minutes before the service begins. This is our signal to observe a little quite time ( and allow others that privilege) so that we can all prepare our hearts and minds for this time we spend with Christ as He comes to us through Word and Sacrament this morning. To aid you in your preparation for worship, prayers and psalms are included at the front of the hymnal.